OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM ENABLED UNIROYAL/CROMPTON'S STENCH 17 YEARS AGO

Susan Bryant was quoted in the Woolwich Observer on March 31, 2001 in Richard Vivian's article. She stated "Odour is really a misnomer for it because it's not so much the nuisance of a bad odour that bothers you, but the knowledge that they're toxic chemicals.". In the March 28, 2001 K-W Record Christian Agaard commented upon Uniroyal's court experience and $168,000 fine for fumigating the Duke St. residents back in August 1998 thusly "It's enough to make you gag.". "It must be a devastating experience.". This was in reference to Uniroyal lawyers and staff having to sully themselves by attending Provincial Offences Court for offences which are non-criminal in nature.

Less than a month after Uniroyal Chemical's $168,000 fine they stunk up Elmira yet again. The April 20, 2001 Elmira Independent story was written as usual by Julie Sawyer and titled "High winds blow off cover, releasing odour". It turned out that the cover over the Building #8 sump was blown off. Susan Bryant and Shannon Purves-Smith responded and took air samples. Shannon was quoted as saying "It was just horrendous.". "I was gagging the smell was so horrible.".

In the June 1, 2001 edition of the Elmira Independent it was first publicly revealed that there was a second polluter of Elmira's drinking water aquifers, namely Nutrite, now known as Yara. They had been contributing mostly Ammonia as well as other lesser contaminants to the aquifers. This had been well hidden by our authorities for the last dozen years. It was my first understanding of the deviousness and dishonesty of our local, regional and provincial authorities.

Further comments in this article were about the odour problems in Elmira. Esther Thur suggested that Uniroyal officials should move to Duke St. in Elmira for the summer. Ron Ormson of CPAC stated that the Ministry of Environment and Uniroyal/Crompton should be doing the off-site air monitoring. Shannon Purves-Smith advised that the free air sampling she was doing "...is not an endless, endless free process.". Henry Regier and Susan both discussed the proposed Risk Assessment for the Chemtura site. Henry made a metaphor regarding foxes having their tails cut off. Uniroyal presumably being the fox and the consequences of their actions being very minor.

The Woolwich Observer who had first advised UPAC/CPAC and the public that Uniroyal only returned to the public consultation process because the Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA) advised them that they would not get the *Responsible Care verification without it; further advised CPAC and the public of this in their June 2, 2001 edition. Without attending monthly meetings with CPAC their *Responsible Care designation would not be maintained.

Odors were still a problem as the Independent reported in their June 29, 2001 edition that Henry Regier inquired whether the volunteer air cartridges were serving any purpose. Ron Ormson also of CPAC in regards to volunteer air sampling stated that "this came about because there was no long-term ongoing off-site air monitoring.". Shannon suggested that the Uniroyal odours were similar to what she smelled last month in Cuba at a petroleum plant.

Finally in the August 24, 2001 K-W Record, Bob Burtt quoted Sylvia Berg (APTE) "I think they are forward thinking when it comes to relations with their clients, but I don't think they show the same level of concern with the community and the environment.".

These were the days when both APTE and the Environmental Hazards Team (EH-Team- moi, Richard, Esther & Henry) were taking turns shellacking Uniroyal/Crompton for their negligence and ongoing technical, fictional fantasies. I thought we were an excellent team and unfortunately, unknown to us, the APTE leadership were still chafing at not having a monopoly on environmentalism in Elmira, Ontario. Only after Esther passed on and Henry stopped attending CPAC due to hearing difficulties did the APTE leadership take aim at my back.